Sepand Rastegar
@rastapopolus.bsky.social
Developmental biologist interested in neurogenesis, transcription, regeneration, zebrafish, and Middle East geopolitics.
https://bip.ibcs.kit.edu/78.php
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4411-5646
https://zfin.org/ZDB-PERS-010827-6
Opinions are mine
https://bip.ibcs.kit.edu/78.php
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4411-5646
https://zfin.org/ZDB-PERS-010827-6
Opinions are mine
Pinned
Sepand Rastegar
@rastapopolus.bsky.social
· Nov 27
We love #zebrafish transgenic lines 🧬, especially when it comes to exploring the spinal cord and brain! 🧠🐟 #Neuroscience #ZebrafishResearch🔬
November 5, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Need to establish #zebrafish
KO or KI lines? Get in touch with TEFOR.
KO or KI lines? Get in touch with TEFOR.
To generate mutant reporter lines, if you have any questions, you can contact our partner TEFOR (Paris-Saclay) tefor.net
Tefor Paris-Saclay
TEFOR Paris-Saclay a pour ambition de faciliter l’accès aux organismes modèles aquatiques pour la recherche fondamentale et appliquée.
tefor.net
September 15, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Need to establish #zebrafish
KO or KI lines? Get in touch with TEFOR.
KO or KI lines? Get in touch with TEFOR.
#zebrafish genome update from Shawn Burgess
#zebrafish genome update, our T2T assembly of the inbred strain of AB (M-AB) generated by my buddy Nori Sakai has now been released at NCBI and will be a second reference genome for zebrafish (GRCz12ab):
JBQAYU000000000.1 Danio rerio :: NCBI
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
August 15, 2025 at 4:20 PM
#zebrafish genome update from Shawn Burgess
Blind cavefish still keep an ancient DNA repair trick — even in total darkness 🌑🐟 New Nature Communications study from Nick Foulkes & team @ IBCS, KIT: "Conservation of dark CPD photolyase function in blind cavefish"
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Conservation of dark CPD photolyase function in blind cavefish - Nature Communications
By investigating the paradoxical retention of a photolyase gene in a light-deprived blind cavefish, the authors reveal a novel light-independent function for CPD photolyase in the repair of oxidative ...
doi.org
August 13, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Blind cavefish still keep an ancient DNA repair trick — even in total darkness 🌑🐟 New Nature Communications study from Nick Foulkes & team @ IBCS, KIT: "Conservation of dark CPD photolyase function in blind cavefish"
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Dear Jacob, I believe that better days will come, because every tyranny and dictatorship eventually collapses, precisely because they are built on injustice and the oppression of some over others. Stay strong and safe Azizi!!!!.
1/n Dear friends, in light of the current events in Palestine and to help spread awareness, a large number of filmmakers have made their FILMS about PALESTINE AVAILABLE FOR ONLINE FOR FREE
Below, we are sharing links to films that you can watch and share to spread our message to the world:
Below, we are sharing links to films that you can watch and share to spread our message to the world:
August 6, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Dear Jacob, I believe that better days will come, because every tyranny and dictatorship eventually collapses, precisely because they are built on injustice and the oppression of some over others. Stay strong and safe Azizi!!!!.
Important !!!! #DANIO-CODE data coordination is back online!!!
#IZFC2025 #zebrafish #DANIO-CODE data coordination centre is back online. Note changed address: danio-code-dcc.genereg.net
DANIO-CODE DCC
This Data Coordination Center allows DANIO-CODE consortium members to submit and view their data sets annotated with standard metadata nomenclatures.
danio-code-dcc.genereg.net
July 22, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Important !!!! #DANIO-CODE data coordination is back online!!!
🐟 Karlsruhe Institut of Technology hosts since 2012 Europe’s only Zebrafish Resource Centre (EZRC). 30,000+ mutant lines, 2,000+ gene plasmids (Armant et al. 2013: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2013.05.006, Diotel et al. 2015: 10.1002/cne.23733), plus hands-on courses in 🇩🇪 & 🇬🇧! ! 🔬 www.ezrc.kit.edu #Zebrafish
KIT - European Zebrafish Resource Center (EZRC) - Homepage
The EZRC archives zebrafish lines and provides biomedical researchers in Europe with fish, plasmids, sequencing, genetic and chemical screening services.
www.ezrc.kit.edu
July 22, 2025 at 12:34 PM
🐟 Karlsruhe Institut of Technology hosts since 2012 Europe’s only Zebrafish Resource Centre (EZRC). 30,000+ mutant lines, 2,000+ gene plasmids (Armant et al. 2013: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2013.05.006, Diotel et al. 2015: 10.1002/cne.23733), plus hands-on courses in 🇩🇪 & 🇬🇧! ! 🔬 www.ezrc.kit.edu #Zebrafish
The link to our revised article is doi.org/10.1101/2025...
July 11, 2025 at 12:49 PM
The link to our revised article is doi.org/10.1101/2025...
The world is truly insane!!! A war criminal is supporting a narcissistic politician who incited his supporters to attack the U.S. Congress—for the Nobel Prize. This is the most ridiculous joke ever.
July 9, 2025 at 5:56 PM
The world is truly insane!!! A war criminal is supporting a narcissistic politician who incited his supporters to attack the U.S. Congress—for the Nobel Prize. This is the most ridiculous joke ever.
After 2 intense months and a 42-page rebuttal (!), we’ve resubmitted our revised MS: “Multiple cis-regulatory elements collaborate to control mdka expression in telencephalic neural stem cells of adult #zebrafish.......” Soon on
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social — stay tuned!
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social — stay tuned!
July 9, 2025 at 9:33 AM
After 2 intense months and a 42-page rebuttal (!), we’ve resubmitted our revised MS: “Multiple cis-regulatory elements collaborate to control mdka expression in telencephalic neural stem cells of adult #zebrafish.......” Soon on
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social — stay tuned!
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social — stay tuned!
The very first #German #Fish #meeting will take place in September 2026 in #Heidelberg! Stay tuned — more info will be published right here. But already now: mark your calendars! I’m sure it will be a fantastic meeting with the whole German Fish community — and more!!! 🐟 🐠
June 5, 2025 at 1:42 PM
The very first #German #Fish #meeting will take place in September 2026 in #Heidelberg! Stay tuned — more info will be published right here. But already now: mark your calendars! I’m sure it will be a fantastic meeting with the whole German Fish community — and more!!! 🐟 🐠
Forgot to mention: The #German #fish #meeting will be held in the beautiful city of #Heidelberg. We've gathered a list of 64 German fish labs, but if you've started your lab recently, please get in touch to join our mailing list! #zebrafish #medaka #Danionella #cavefish
We—Nicolas @rohner.bsky.social, Lauren @lsaunders.bsky.social, Arica @abeisaw.bsky.social & Sepand @rastapopolus.bsky.social—are planning the first German #fish ( #zebrafish, #medaka, #killifish, others) #meeting for September 2026. If you're a PI & want info, get in touch!
May 25, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Forgot to mention: The #German #fish #meeting will be held in the beautiful city of #Heidelberg. We've gathered a list of 64 German fish labs, but if you've started your lab recently, please get in touch to join our mailing list! #zebrafish #medaka #Danionella #cavefish
We—Nicolas @rohner.bsky.social, Lauren @lsaunders.bsky.social, Arica @abeisaw.bsky.social & Sepand @rastapopolus.bsky.social—are planning the first German #fish ( #zebrafish, #medaka, #killifish, others) #meeting for September 2026. If you're a PI & want info, get in touch!
May 24, 2025 at 6:22 PM
We—Nicolas @rohner.bsky.social, Lauren @lsaunders.bsky.social, Arica @abeisaw.bsky.social & Sepand @rastapopolus.bsky.social—are planning the first German #fish ( #zebrafish, #medaka, #killifish, others) #meeting for September 2026. If you're a PI & want info, get in touch!
Latest preprint @zebrafishrock.bsky.social and @the-node.bsky.social
#Zebrafish galore in the latest preprint trawl from @the-node.bsky.social 🤩 Check it out! @tillymommersteeg.bsky.social @beckrichardson.bsky.social @rastapopolus.bsky.social @burgesslab.bsky.social @biomarina-vg.bsky.social @katwrog.bsky.social @thelovelylab.bsky.social @wittbrodtlab.bsky.social
📃April in preprints
We're already one week into May (!), so let's have a look back at the #preprints that came out in April on #DevBio, #StemCells, #regeneration, #EvoDevo and related fields:
thenode.biologists.com/april-in-pre...
(As usual, let us know if we've missed anything)
We're already one week into May (!), so let's have a look back at the #preprints that came out in April on #DevBio, #StemCells, #regeneration, #EvoDevo and related fields:
thenode.biologists.com/april-in-pre...
(As usual, let us know if we've missed anything)
May 8, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Latest preprint @zebrafishrock.bsky.social and @the-node.bsky.social
My lab explores #neurogenesis and #regeneration in #zebrafish embryonic spinal cord and adult telencephalon. Interested in these topics? Check out our recent reviews! 🐟🧠 doi:10.1111/febs.17231, doi:10.1111/febs.16913, doi:10.3390/cells10020391, doi:10.3389/fnins.2020.568930
May 7, 2025 at 11:59 AM
My lab explores #neurogenesis and #regeneration in #zebrafish embryonic spinal cord and adult telencephalon. Interested in these topics? Check out our recent reviews! 🐟🧠 doi:10.1111/febs.17231, doi:10.1111/febs.16913, doi:10.3390/cells10020391, doi:10.3389/fnins.2020.568930
🧠 #Mdka is a pan-injury marker, upregulated after tissue damage across species.
🐟 We studied its regulation during adult #zebrafish brain #neurogenesis and regeneration. 🔍 Screened for regulatory sequences in both normal and #regenerative conditions.
📄 Read 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🐟 We studied its regulation during adult #zebrafish brain #neurogenesis and regeneration. 🔍 Screened for regulatory sequences in both normal and #regenerative conditions.
📄 Read 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Multiple cis-regulatory elements collaborate to control mdka expression in zebrafish adult telencephalic neural stem cells during constitutive and regenerative neurogenesis
Zebrafish is a powerful animal model for studying nervous system regeneration due to its remarkable regenerative abilities and the availability of diverse molecular tools. After telencephalic brain in...
www.biorxiv.org
May 7, 2025 at 11:48 AM
🧠 #Mdka is a pan-injury marker, upregulated after tissue damage across species.
🐟 We studied its regulation during adult #zebrafish brain #neurogenesis and regeneration. 🔍 Screened for regulatory sequences in both normal and #regenerative conditions.
📄 Read 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🐟 We studied its regulation during adult #zebrafish brain #neurogenesis and regeneration. 🔍 Screened for regulatory sequences in both normal and #regenerative conditions.
📄 Read 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Shawn #Burgess is definitely a great scientist who is always ready to share his discoveries and tools with others. He is one of the best!!!!!!
Welcome @burgesslab.bsky.social as an Associate Editor for #GENETICS 👋 Burgess, who will be joining the Experimental Technologies and Resources section, studies tissue regeneration in zebrafish and genome function. We’re delighted to have him on the team! Read more: buff.ly/k0yDk5c
April 30, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Shawn #Burgess is definitely a great scientist who is always ready to share his discoveries and tools with others. He is one of the best!!!!!!
It seems there's a bias for GFP expression in the notochord when generating #Zebrafish transgenics—many lines show this, and sometimes in rhombomeres 3/5, even though the endogenous gene isn't expressed there!!!!!
April 25, 2025 at 6:33 PM
It seems there's a bias for GFP expression in the notochord when generating #Zebrafish transgenics—many lines show this, and sometimes in rhombomeres 3/5, even though the endogenous gene isn't expressed there!!!!!
#EZRC 30,000 mutant, transgenic, and WT lines, lab training and fish courses!!!
#EZRC: Founded in 2012 with support from Klaus Tschira Foundation, Helmholtz BIFTM, and EU ZF-HEALTH. 30,000 mutant, transgenic, and wildtype lines, including Tübingen and Sanger mutants. 2,000 #zebrafish gene plasmids. Join our courses and lab training for hands-on experience!🐟 #Resource #Training
April 23, 2025 at 7:40 PM
#EZRC 30,000 mutant, transgenic, and WT lines, lab training and fish courses!!!
European #Zebrafish Resource Center (EZRC) joined #Bluesky
The KIT - European Zebrafish Resource Center (EZRC) www.ezrc.kit.edu now has an account on #Bluesky! Follow us to learn more!!!!!!
KIT - European Zebrafish Resource Center (EZRC) - HomepageKIT - Karlsruhe Institute of TechnologyCampusplan
The EZRC archives zebrafish lines and provides biomedical researchers in Europe with fish, plasmids, sequencing, genetic and chemical screening services.
www.ezrc.kit.edu
April 23, 2025 at 6:56 PM
European #Zebrafish Resource Center (EZRC) joined #Bluesky
Thanks @sfbd.bsky.social
Our Sepand is on 🔥🔥🔥
Bonus: Sepand never misses our annual meeting! Always very insightful during our general assemblies and super nice to talk to!
Good luck with the publishing process now 🤞🤞🤞
@rastapopolus.bsky.social
#zebrafish #devbio #transcription #regulation #chromatin #regeneration
Bonus: Sepand never misses our annual meeting! Always very insightful during our general assemblies and super nice to talk to!
Good luck with the publishing process now 🤞🤞🤞
@rastapopolus.bsky.social
#zebrafish #devbio #transcription #regulation #chromatin #regeneration
Happy to share that our MS on the transcriptional regulation of MDKA, a key injury response gene in #zebrafish adult telencephalon, is published @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social !Explore how multiple cis-regulatory elements collaborate to control mdka in telencephalon 🐟🧠 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
April 19, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Thanks @sfbd.bsky.social